Listen to this articleThe basics:
- NJ Supreme Court approves NextGen UBE starting July 2028
- Exam focuses on real-world legal skills across nine doctrine areas, seven lawyering skills
- Test includes multiple-choice, integrated sets & performance tasks using laptops at proctored centers
- Adoption ensures score portability, aligns with the nationwide shift to NextGen testing
New Jersey plans to replace its traditional bar exam with the new NextGen bar examination starting in July 2028.
Following the New Jersey Supreme Court’s Nov. 17 announcement, the state joins 47 other jurisdictions across the U.S. in shifting to a more practice-focused test. Developed by the National Conference of Bar Examiners, the assessment aims to measure real-world legal skills rather than memorization.
The move comes as the NCBE prepares to retire the exam in its present form in February 2028.
Similar to the traditional exam, the NextGen UBE is administered and has written portions graded by the individual jurisdictions. The NextGen UBE will take one-and-a-half days: six hours of testing time on day one and three hours on day two, NCBE said.
The current bar exam is typically administered in 12 hours over two full days.
Designed to reflect the work performed by newly licensed attorneys, the assessment will test nine areas of legal doctrine as well as seven foundational lawyering skills:
- Legal doctrine
- Civil procedure
- Contract law
- Evidence
- Torts
- Business associations
- Constitutional law
- Criminal law
- Real property
- Family law
- Foundational lawyering
- Legal research
- Legal writing
- Issue spotting & analysis
- Investigation & evaluation
- Client counseling & advising
- Negotiation & dispute resolution
- Client relationship& management
Generation next
According to the NCBE, it developed the exam after a multiyear analysis. The updates aim to better assess the most important knowledge and skills for lawyers within their first three years in practice.
The test comprises of a mix of question types, including multiple choice, integrated sets and performance tasks that simulate real lawyer assignments, like research memos and client letters.
Test takers will use their own laptops at proctored testing centers. The content is delivered via a secure application that runs offline. This way, the applicant does not need to have internet access during the exam.
Additionally, Braille and paper copies, as well as assistive technologies, are available for those requiring accommodation under the American with Disabilities Act, according to the New Jersey Supreme Court.
Scores run from 500–750. Each jurisdiction sets its own passing thresholds. The exam is also portable, so scores can transfer between participating states, the NCBE noted.
The first rollouts of the NextGen test are scheduled for July 2026 in some jurisdictions. However, the majority of states that have adopted it do not plan to switch until 2027 or 2028.
Detailed outlines of the legal doctrine and skills tested are available here.
‘A thoughtful evolution’
Before adopting the NextGen UBE as a way to assess minimum competency to practice law, the New Jersey Supreme Court said it “relied substantially on the thoughtful and thorough report and recommendations” of a state committee tasked with exploring the change.
Retired Associate Justice and current McCarter & English partner Jaynee LaVecchia charge that group. It also included representatives of New Jersey’s law schools, professionals, and volunteers with experience in bar admissions and distinguished practitioners from across the state.
In its May 2025 report, the committee described the NextGen UBE as “a thoughtful evolution of the licensure exam that is keyed to the skills and knowledge necessary for an attorney entering the profession.”
“The refined format, including the introduction of integrated question sets, blends long-tested competencies such as reading, writing, and legal analysis, with the skills of investigation and evaluation, client counseling and advising, negotiation and dispute resolution, and client relationship and management,” they wrote.
“This enhancement to the format is a natural extension of the practical approach that the Court embraced [in 2016] when adopting the UBE … and ensures that the bar exam remains a relevant and reliable tool for measuring ability to practice law,” they said.
Additional details about the format, content, development and administration of the exam are available in the committee’s 61-page report.
Raising the bar
Because the NCBE is discontinuing the current UBE after February 2028, New Jersey cannot continue using the existing exam. So, returning to a pre-universal bar exam model would require the state to develop a new, reliable scoring and testing system.
“That scenario presents its own substantial challenges in light of the discontinuation of the MBE [multistate bar exam] as a national standard bearer to calibrate scores,” the committee said.
The Supreme Court noted it is mindful of “the tremendous value that score portability has bestowed on law students and practitioners.”
“The Court first adopted a uniform examination 10 years ago, and the concept of score portability now exists in most jurisdictions. The overwhelming majority of New Jersey attorneys today hold two licenses, for example, in New Jersey and either New York or Pennsylvania.
“As the Ad Hoc Committee observed, ‘[t]he value that transferrable scores have bestowed on new attorneys and their employers since 2016 cannot be overstated,’ and adopting the NextGen UBE is critical to continuing that important benefit,” the Supreme Court said.
The New Jersey State Bar Association also expressed support for the move. NJSBA recommended the state start the exam in 2028 to give law schools and students time to prepare.
During the transition, applicants can continue to seek admission in New Jersey based on UBE scores earned in other jurisdictions. They can also submit a NextGen UBE score after the Supreme Court establishes the passing score for admission, the state said.
According to the Supreme Court, the committee will now reconvene to research and recommend a passing score for the NextGen exam in New Jersey. The Board of Bar Examiners is also starting to plan for the July 2028 implementation.
